The Graywald
The ancient homeland of the wood elves, the Graywald has long stood as a pristine example of natural beauty in Pryme. For thousands of years, this land was untouched, with the wood elves living in harmony with nature, as well as their neighbors, the protective and nurturing bearfolk, the ursith. But the Graywald is also a land of great pain, loss, vengeance and hatred. Beginning with its earliest days all the way up to its most horrific moment--the Razing of Graywald-the forest has known warfare, violence, and bloodshed. In this way, the Graywald can be seen as a microcosm of Pryme as a whole: beautiful, but deeply scarred and very dangerous. Etymology Originally called Nawa, ''or simply "wood" by the ancient wood elves, the land changed its name to ''Hotanawa, or "gray wood," after the Breaking of the Faewald. When humans arrived in the forest, they translated this into their language, and Graywald became the common name for the country. History Ophan Slaves and the Rebellion Evidence of elven activity in the Graywald dates back to prehistory, but the first recorded mention of wood elves in the Graywald come from recovered ophan texts that describe their early empire. Roughly 7000 years before the Elven Calamity of Callandria, the opha ruled the majority of Novus, the Great Continent, in a vast empire called Ssa'Opha'Kaa. They alone ruled this empire, and every other race was treated as little more than animals. For the elves, this meant a life as hunters. Elves were captured and trained as one would train a modern day hunting dog. In the best of cases, these elves would be used to hunt down game for the opha; in other cases, the elves would hunt escaped or derelict slaves. In the worst cases, rival opha lords would pit their elven slaves against one another and watch them hunt each other for sport. The opha required the elves to wear veils over their faces whenever they were in the presence of their ophan masters. As the ophan ideal for beauty is an alien concept to the minds of the high races, it is unknown whether the appearance of elves disgusted the serpentfolk, or if the opha were instead envious of the elves' natural beauty and desired it to be hidden away. The elves of the Graywald lived this miserable lifestyle, knowing no other life, until the pyfron initiated the slave rebellions that began the downfall of the opha empire in 636 BtC. The elves took this opportunity to turn their hunting skills on their former masters, slaying thousands of opha. Before driving them to extinction, the remaining elves found it more prudent to ensure the survival of their own species, and retreated out of the Kunga Jungle and into the forests that would come to be known as the Graywald. The Age of Six Tribes After earning their freedom in the slave rebellions, the wood elves were left without any semblance of culture, government, or order. What followed were 400 odd years of barbarism, with small tribes raiding and attacking each other for food or territory. This behavior finally came to an end in 209 BtC, when a leader in the north named Kegerbuck declared himself the chief of the Eywhan--the Stag Tribe. This formation and declaration of an organized tribe caused a wave of reformation across the Graywald. In total, six separate tribes would form: Kegerbuck's Eywhan in the northeast; Endonhlo's Loneketa in the north and northwest; Saskasaka's Quendan in the western woods; Opeisi's Ruatsi in the central woods; Ponskathlay's Suiatchez in the southwest; and Canahowen's Shona in the southeast. The Loneketa, or Eagle Tribe, was considered the most spiritual of all of the six tribes. Reclusive and introspective, members of this tribe would seek out their "life quests" through spirit visions from nature and its guardians and messengers. They sought to be the conduit between our realm and the realm of the fae, and were one of the few tribes that allied with the fae creatures that inhabited the Graywald. The Suiatchez, or Bear Tribe, were a relatively peaceful people, but fiercely protective of their territory. The Suiatchez were an incredibly inventive and industrious people, creating beautiful baskets and beading in their art. It was also the Suiatchez who discovered early herbalism in the Graywald, and knew which plants healed which ailments. Finally, as a coastal people, the Suiatchez were adept sailors and navigators, skills not often found amongst the wood elven people. Ruatsi, or Fox Tribe, mimicked their totem animal well, as they were a clever and manipulative folk. While war between the tribes was infrequent, hostilities were not uncommon, and the Ruatsi used their quick wit and silver tongues to forge alliances or orchestrate betrayals. It became routine to not be able to trust the Ruatsi, but the Ruatsi still proved themselves indispensable enough to be relied upon time and and time again. The Eywhan, or Stag Tribe, is largely considered to be the "leader" tribe of the Six Tribes. Since their creation, the Eywhan strongly believed in unity, and sought to break down the barriers that divided the disparate tribes. While some saw this as the forging of alliances, others saw it as the Eywhan positioning itself as the rulers of all elvenkind, and that their quest for unity was in fact a quest for dominance. What complicated the Eywhan's message of peace was their considerable army; the Eywhan did indeed seek peace with their brother and sisters, but maintained one of the largest standing armies of any of the six tribes to defend their lands. Like the Loneketa, the Quendan Tribe, or Wolf Tribe, were a highly spiritual people. Instead of communion with the planet or nature, however, the Quendan sought knowledge from the spirits of their ancestors. To the Quendan, the most important thing in life was family, and the elders of each family were held nearly as deities in their own right. Quendan shaman developed a technique to enter what ancient texts call the 'spirit world,' which must surely have been the planes of Ilia or Auria. By forging a link to these planes of existence, the Quendan shaman could communicate with their dead ancestors. Finally, moreso than any other tribe, the Quendan held a strong tradition of maintaining an oral history, and as such the Quendan tribe is the most thoroughly documented tribe in the modern day. The last tribe, the Shona, or panther tribe, commanded the southeastern woods. The Shona were a very violent, militaristic people who sought to expand their territory at every opportunity. They fought often with the Eywhan, and tended to bully their more peaceful neighbors to the west. In addition to this culture of warfare, the Shona were the first wood elven tribe to develop metalworking, as their hilly forests were rich with mythril deposits. It is perhaps due to the Shona that mythril is sometimes referred to as "elven silver." The Shona made great spears, blades, and arrowheads from this mythril, using it to great efficacy in their skirmishes with their rivals. The Shona are also famed for their music, and the rhythmic pounding of drums, shouts and war cries, and forlorn wind instruments so evocative of wood elven culture all derive from the Shona tribe. The Breaking of the Faewald During the era of Six Tribes, the wood elves lived alongside the natural residents of the forest: the fae. Originally from the planar realm known as the Other Side, the fae were drawn into the lands of the mortal realm that were remniscient of their home. Chief amongst these were Pryme's vast and beautiful forests. The fae nurtured a great redwood tree in the northeastern area of the forest. This tree grew into an immense specimen, a tree known as a rahn, or life-tree. This particular life-tree, called Fae'rahn, was the seat of a minor lady of the Daytime Court who particularly enjoyed the mortal realm. Unfortunately, greed and envy overcame the elves, and, in 343 EY, several of the tribes went to war with the fae. This would mark one of the rare moments in elven history when the Shona and the Eywhan tribes would ally, forming the side opposing the fae. The spirital Quendan and Loneketa came to the defense of the fae, while the wily Ruatsi played both sides, allying themselves with whoever was winning at the time. The Suiatchez denounced the war, but remained neutral, preferring to stay out of the conflict altogether. Although the combined magical prowess of the Loneketa and Quendan shamans were great, the martial ability of the Eywhan and the Shona were too much. The Eagle and Wolf tribes were driven back to their lands, and the Elk and Panther laid siege to Fae'rahn. As the lady of Fae'rahn fell in battle, one by one, the fae disappeared from the forest. They placed a curse upon the forest, that, although it would retain its natural beauty, it would never know the vibrance and full spectrum of beautiful color it had known when the fae still lived there. The colors became muted and, while the forest is still vivid and beautiful, there is a constant sense of mourning and loss amongst the trees. The Shona and Eywhan immediately felt shame for their actions, but knew it was too late. The Eywhan took Fae'rahn as their throne, renaming it Hota'rahn, or "the gray life-tree." It was from this moment forward that the tribes would know their forest as Hotanawa--the Gray Wood. A Cycle of Vengeance The years between 209 BtC and 953 EY were a rough and tumultuous period of wood elven history. In addition to the Breaking of the Faewald in 343 EY, the elven tribes adopted a philosophy that they would come to call Nemestomane -- the Cycle of Vengeance. Originally a Shona line of thinking but later adopted by all of the tribes, even the typically peaceful Lonkeketa and Suiatchez, Nemestomane stated that the wood elven civilization was born in the flames of conflict and battle--the wood elves had wrested their freedom away from the opha through bloodshed and battle. To the followers of this line of thought, freedom was like a bonfire that needed to constantly be fed, and its fuel was blood. This Cycle of Vengeance must continue by continued aggression and warfare against those who would threaten to take it from the wood elves. For 224 years, this meant continued war against the opha, and all six tribes would send regular raiding parties into the jungle to slaughter the serpentfolk for the atrocities committed to their people. Having not forgotten the veils they were forced to wear, the wood elves wore masks into battle with the opha. They called these masks the wekena, and death masks are known to this day to be the symbol of the most elite of wood elven warriors. In the year of 17 EY, however, something happened to turn the attentions of the elves elsewhere--the pyfron of Molentius were discovered exploring Eywhan lands. Unfamiliar with these small creatures so long after the slave rebellions, the wood elves diverted their efforts from the opha to the pyfron. This would become one of the longest lasting turns in the Cycle of Vengeance, lasting until 614 EY with only the diversion of the Breaking of the Faewald in 343 EY to temporarily halt it. During this time, thousands of elves died, but hundreds of thousands of pyfron died, further driving that people down the path of cruelty and barbarism. To this point, the thragg'ar of Perilar lad left the wood elves alone, seeing them as a hostile and xenophobic race. As a land desperately devoid of lumber, however, Perilar began to grow desperate to arrange diplomatic contact and trade agreements with the elves to get the lumber they needed. The elves, weary of warfare with the pyfron, looked upon these savage, bestial-looking creatures to the east as their new threat, a brutish people who threatened to come into their forest and cut down their trees. This awoke the next turn in the Cycle of Vengeance, and war broke out between the elves and the thragg'ar. This battle and bloodshed boomed through the forests of the Graywald for another 339 years, until the wood elves' ceaseless violence awoke something deep in the hills of the Suiatchez territory--a race that would grow to become the saviors of elvenkind, and their closest and dearest allies. The Ursith Awaken It is unknown how long the ursith hibernated in the southwestern hills of the Graywald. What is known as that the bearfolk had slumbered for so long that they could no longer recall a culture before their slumber, or even a time before it. What the gentle ursith did remember is that they were the guardians and wardens of the forest, and they, a normally peaceful race, were furious at what the Graywald had become. Firstly, they were furious at the ousting of the fae. Secondly, they were furious at the constant bickering between the tribal nations. Thirdly, they were disgusted by the Cycle of Vengeance. Being protectors and strongly believing in redemption, the ursith quickly organized and began traveling to each of the different tribal nations. Through hard, bitter work in diplomacy, and physically removing a couple of the particularly violent and cruel chiefs, the ursith slowly began to reform how the wood elves would shape their culture. Because of the ursith, the wood elves would come to realize how far they had strayed from their paths as children of the forest and denizens of nature. They reestablished druidic roots and tried the rift between them and the fae, although that is a wound that would never fully close. The ursith and the wood elves formed their own druidic circle together in 1752 EY and named it the Arrow Circle. In time, it would come to form bonds with the other druidic circles and would become one of the Green Circle's closest allies, both literally and figuratively. This was also a time of spiritual awakening in the Graywald as the Loneketa and Quendan tribes worked with ursith clerics and shamans to hone their craft of spirit worship. The Suiatchez reveled in the peace-loving ursith, perhaps taking to them the most. Even the warlike and militaristic Eywhan and Shona appreciated and respected the ursith, who were also fearless and capable combatants, but taught that these skills should only be used in the service of the Graywald and the protection of home. This age of growth and prosperity lasted for a thousand years, until an event occurred in 1905 EY that not even the ursith could stop: the War of Six Nations. The War of Six Nations Tensions between the six wood elven nations were boiling leading up to conflict in 1905 EY. The primary cause of this conflict stemmed from the outside world, and differing philosophies on how the wood elves should respond to a growing and increasingly connecting world. The Shona, in traditional Shonese fashion, sought to conquer the nearby nations, thus expanding the Graywald into an empire. The Eywhan continued their quest for a unified Graywald, wishing to instead focus affairs domestically. The Loneketa believed in spreading the messages of the elven gods and the powers of nature to other lands, while their traditional allies, the Quendan, believed in complete preservation of the status quo. The only two tribes who had a mutual agreement were the Suiatchez and the Ruatsi, who both believed that communication should be made with other nations and trade routes opened up. These were for entirely different reasons, however, as the Suiatchez were earnest and honest businesspeople, while the Ruatsi saw a burgeoning trade business as something to control and manipulate, as well as planting spies in foreign lands to learn more about other peoples. This disagreement came to a head in 1905 EY, when Chief Rumbee of the Shona declared Shona territory an independent nation free of the rest of the Graywald and began making preparations to attack Perilar. The ursith were desperately quick to begin attempting to mend the rapidly deterioriating confederation, but it was too late; one by one, the nations declared themselves independent and began pursuing their own ambitions and goals. In this time of chaos and confusion, it was the Eywhan that the ursith turned to, as the Eywhan did want to keep the tribes together. Although the ursith despised warfare and wishes to avoid it, they were persuaded by Chief Enchacook of the Eywhan that the ends justified the means. The ursith allied themselves with the Eywhan, and Eywhan troops invaded Shona territory to circumvent war with Perilar. Thus, the War of Six Nations began. The War of Six Nations was a terrible, violent, bloody conflict that lasted for 652 years. During this time, Chief Enchacook was slain in a skirmish with Quendan warriors, and his daughter, Chieftaness Cheyena, took up his place as leader. This turned what had effectively become a stalemate war into a landslide victory, as Cheyena was a leader with unparalleled vision and ambition, as well as the mind of a master tactician. Following her father and peoples' desire for a unified Graywald nation, Cheyena ended the long and bloody war within a century, wresting control from the five other chiefs of the Graywald and declaring Eywhan territory as its seat of power. At long last, the War of Six Nations was over, and the Eywhan stood as the victors. The Unifying Queen The unity of the Graywald may have been short lived had it not been for the power, grace, and diplomatic skill of Chieftaness Cheyena. While the other five tribes bickered about their roles in a unified Graywald, Cheyena instead proposed something altogether different: a restructuring of the government of the wood elves. Instead of six separate nations forming a confederacy, Cheyena proposed a monarchy, pointing to other nations in the world where such a government had prospered and flourished. Cheyena argued passionately that, as long as the Graywald held a tribal mentality, they would never be a whole people, and would always be vulnerable to outside attacks. Cheyena's rallying cry was that she "was not Eywhan; she was elven." This argument resonated with the people, even the obstinate Shona, and, with the backing and blessing of the ursith, Cheyena was crowned Queen Cheyena in 2557 EY. Queen Cheyena ruled for a thousand years, and the nation of the Graywald truly prospered under her rule. Instead of establishing a dynasty, Cheyena chose her successor before her death, choosing a shaman of Loneketan origins named Lunrule. Queen Lunrule then served admirably in Cheyena's stead, and began a tradition of queens; although a king wasn't out of the question, the wood elves are a people of tradition, and so since Cheyena have they had a queen. The line of queens ended with Queen Sitala, however, over four thousand years later, with the arrival of the greatest threat that the Graywald would ever face: the Empire of Realm. The Arrival of Realm By 6872 EY, the empire of Realm covered much of Novus, the Great Continent. The wood elves watched nervously as their stubborn and independent thragg'ar neighbors bent the knee to Imperial forces in 6723 EY, and grew even more concerned in 6740 EY with the invention of gunpowder and the rise of firearms usage within the imperial military. By the time Realm came at last for the Graywald, Queen Sitala and her supporters were prepared. The initial visit from an Imperial dignitary played out as it did in every other nation the empire had conquered; a pleasant visit, and an invitation to join the empire peacefully. Some nations in the past had simply said yes and joined. Others declined politely but invited warfare. Queen Sitala instead did something unprecedented; she returned the dignitary's head to the capital city in a satin-wrapped box. This unprecedented act of defiance took the empire by surprise, but they were quick to respond with violence. Warfare broke out once more in the Graywald, but this time the elves stood as a unified people, backed by the might and magical prowess of the ursith, each ursith being worth ten elves on the battlefield. The wood elves fought more fiercely than any nation before them save for Sarenul, and might have even won, had it not been for two factors: the machinations of Yakota the Usurper, and the darkest day of wood elven history: the Razing of the Graywald in 6897 EY. The Rise of Yakota the Usurper Nearly twenty years into open conflict with Realm, an individual of Ruatsi descent rose up to speak out against Queen Sitala. His name was Yakota, and he was an eloquent and fiery speaker. He claimed the wood elves were throwing away their lives and that true peace would come from diplomacy with Realm, not acting like savages. Even though twenty years is a short time for an elf, most were already weary with the continual conflict with Realm. Some scholars argue that the elves might have eventually won the war of attrition, but at the time the idea that they were fighting the inevitable was the prevailing mentality. And so it was that Yakota's words found purchase in the hearts and minds of many of the wood elves, especially in the western woods, where the former tribes had been particularly averse to fighting in the past. Queen Sitala, in response, claimed Yakota was a traitor working against the interests of the wood elves and likely was being paid by the Empire itself. She called for his head and for his 'treasonous ideology' to be laid to rest so the wood elves could focus on the true threat. Sitala's people began a campaign of propoganda against Yakota, painting him as "Yakota the Usurper." Unfortunately, both of these moves backfired against Sitala, as calling for his head made him a living martyr in the eyes of his followers, and calling him a "usurper" planted in the minds of many a thought that Yakota himself never acknowledged or proposed--that Sitala be removed and replaced by Yakota himself. This eventually escalated into a conflict that divided the wood elves along old tribal lines--east versus west. Yakota held the hearts and minds of thousands in the southwest particularly, and his ideals were divisive enough to set brother against brother. This conflict would have surely escalated into civil war and brought the wood elves to their knees at the mercy of Realm had it not been for quick thinking on the part of Queen Sitala and the skills of her most elite of warriors. While everyone was focused on the threat of impending war, Sitala took a risk and dispatched assassins to kill Yakota. Sitala knew this was a risk, and cutting the head off the snake would either cause Yakota to become a martyr and further complicate the issue, or it would dissolve the tensions altogether. Luckily for Sitala, Yakota was a charismatic enough of a figurehead that his successful assassination effectively ended the conflict and reunited the elves against their common enemy: the empire of Man. But even this newfound sense of unity would not prepare the wood elves for what happened next; an event so infamous it is known around the world: the Razing of the Graywald. The Razing of the Graywald There are mixed reports as to the specific details of what happened on the eighth of Brownleaf, 6897 EY, because everyone who had been witnesses to the event died in that moment. We can only extrapolate from Imperial reports the details of what happened on that dark day. By 6897 EY, it had become evident that the wood elves could not win the war against Realm. The Empire of Man sent a Slayer named Rashidi to negotiate the surrender of the Graywald with Queen Sitala. During this time, the Imperial Slayer Initiative was in its infancy, and Rashidi was amongst the first of his kind: an immensely powerful, superhuman avatar of the empire's strength, forged through holy and arcane ritual to be a champion of the empire. By sending Rashidi to the Graywald, the Empire was also sending a message of superiority and strength. Rashidi, having been an accomplished spellcaster and graduate of the Red Tower, requested a volunteer from each of the eight Towers of Ten, requesting only the brightest and most capable of casters. These eight individuals would serve as Rashidi's honor guard. According to Imperial reports, Rashidi managed an audience with Queen Sitala within the boughs of Hota'rahn. But this audience had been a deception, and an ambush was sprung on the Slayer and his men. Queen Sitala had assembled her bravest and strongest warriors, including Otekah of Sipaku, the Sun's Fury, who is said to have landed the killing blow on Rashidi in the ambush. With his dying breath, Rashidi commanded the eight wizards to channel the Weave into his body. The wizards did so, and Rashidi used his body as a living bomb, causing an explosion that would obliterate half of the forest. Queen Sitala and all of her elite warriors were killed immediately, and the great natural wonder of Hota'rahn was burned into a blackened husk. The fires raged through the entirety of what used to be Eywhan and Shona lands, and half of the Ruatsi territories as well. Hundreds of thousands of elves died in horrible agony as the flames spread, seemingly ceaselessly, through the woods. Due to the efforts of Sitala's most trusted general in the west, Wanashaw, the elves were able to finally stymie the flames before they wholly consumed the forest. But the horrors had only to just begin. The charred remains of those lost to the Razing of the Graywald rose in undeath, haunted by the horrors inflicted upon them. Although many of these undead rose as mindless, hostile zombies, Queen Sitala herself rose in undeath with her mind and wit intact. She claimed the husk of hota'rahn as her own, renaming it dim'rahn--the dark tree. Unsurprisingly, undeath changed Queen Sitala. She now commanded an army of hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers who were bound and loyal to her. She commanded these undead to attack their living brothers and sisters, that they may join them in the embrace of undeath. Then, in a unified undead army, the Graywald could turn their horde onto Realm and claim their vengeance. The Graywald Today The Graywald of today is a broken land full of bitter, broken people. The nation is barely held together by Chief Speaker Wanashaw, Sitala's old general who has reluctantly taken up reigns as leader. The ursith advise and council, but much of their spirit, determination and ferocity died with half of the forest. As protectors of the forest and the elves, the ursith feel entirely responsible for the razing, and have fallen into a sort of species-wide depression, each eager to find their way to atone for their perceived sin. The capital of the Graywald was moved to the city of Atun, known as the Heart of the Forest, as it is seated squarely in its center. This rides the line of Sitala's territory, known as the Hatewald, and elite soldiers known as the horizon walkers protect the boundary as endless waves of undead threaten to consume and overwhelm the living half of the forest. The wood elves themselves are a broken people. They struggle to hold on to what makes their culture strong and unique. Many call for the return of the Cycle of Vengeance, to begin the killing and violence again. The ursith fight this desire, but with a diminished passion. If something doesn't change soon, it could be very possible that the denizens of the Graywald will fall, in one way or another. Either to the undead, or to themselves. Geography Almost the entirety of the Graywald is a heavy deciduous forest. Although a variety of flora make up this diverse ecosystem, the majority of the trees are towering redwoods that dwarf their real-world equivalents. Gentle streams and rivers wend their way through the forests of the Graywald, but none of these waterways are substantial enough to have been given names. Likewise, there are no mountains in the Graywald, but there are substantial ridges, hills and peaks that can complicate travel for the unaware. A coastal land, the Graywald is susceptible to tsunamis and hurricanes, which devastate the coastal portions of the forest every fall. Further inland, wildfires are a common problem, kept at bay only by the vigilance of the Arrow Circle druids. To the east is the Hatewald, where much of what was once vibrant and green is now lost. Withered husks of once great trees now stand bent and gnarled, and the ground itself is saturated with a thick darkness. Climate The Graywald typically has a dry summer climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. The winters tend to be mild while the summers tend to be very warm. The wood elves thus enjoy the benefit of the canopies to shield them from the summer sun. Politics Economy Demographics Culture Notable Natives * Haseya of Sipaku * Lydia Devereux * Misae of Sipaku * Standing Bear * Snow Fox * Queen Sitala of Sipaku * Telokete of Sipaku * Chief Speaker Wanashaw of Atun * Water Bird Category:Nations of Pryme Category:Nations of Novus